If Destiny's Kind
by AngelaLeeHarden
Summary: What if Shane HAD shot Rick when they faced off? Shooting his best friend down in cold blood, Shane now has everything he's wanted but with Rick's death the group seems to have little chance for survival. With Carl pulling away, Daryl causing trouble, Maggie mourning for her family, Glenn fretting over her being, AND a pregnant Lori, was it REALLY worth it? Is Rick REALLY dead?
1. Chapter 1

This is a gift for EugenidesBABY but I hope the rest of you enjoy this story as well, this is basically kind of a 'what if' on my part but I can't kill Rick so yeah :P

W.I.S (What's In Store): Rickyl. Alive Shane.

I do not own The Walking Dead.

**If Destiny's Kind**

Time seemed to slow as his old friend, his _brother, _fell to the ground underneath the cloudy moonlit night, blood quickly soaking the circumference of fabric around the bullet wound. All of this sparked a memory within Shane's mind . . . the first time Rick had been shot by those bastards they'd been chasing, he remembered being scared out of his wits, worried for his friend's health . . . but now?

"Sorry brother."

Turning to head back to the barn, Shane froze in his tracks as soon as he saw Carl standing there with an unreadable expression.

"Now Carl,"

"D-Did he get b-bit?"

Pursing his lips, Shane found himself a little at war with himself about lying to the boy but it seemed he was in this for the long haul so he sighed and knelt before the boy, placing his hand comfortingly on his shoulder.

"I . . . I'm sorry Carl." Shane began, he saw the boy's eyes cloud over, "I tried but to save him but . . . it wasn't enough."

Silence.

"I see."

It wasn't what Shane had expected but he supposed the young boy had his own way of dealing with the death of someone close, he'd seen that firsthand after the whole ordeal with Sophia. A hungered cry captured their attention, looking out over the field they spotted a whole horde of infected ambling towards them.

"Carl, run!"

**I-D-K**

Somehow, someway, everyone managed to meet back up at the road where they had originally started out . . . the group was smaller though. There were now six survivors: Carl, Daryl, Glenn, Lori, Maggie, and Shane.

"Where's Rick?" Lori was the first to ask but before Shane could reply, someone beat him to it,

"Dead." it was Carl, his voice cold, eyes distant, he refused to meet anyone's gaze,

"He could still be alive." Glenn tried, Carl shook his head,

"I saw Shane shoot him, he was bit."

All eyes fell on Shane who tried to look remorseful, Lori soon broke out into sobs but as she tried to hold her son he viciously pulled away, eyes still downcast, he walked away from the group, opting to sit inside the car they'd arrived in . . . Daryl narrowed his eyes at the man who allowed Lori to wrap her arms around him, he knew a liar when he saw one and this man was definitely spewing bullshit.

"Now what?" Daryl demanded, "There's only SIX of us, how are we gonna survive? Far's I know, I'm the only who knows how t' hunt. Survive."

"Without Rick, what're we going to do?" Glenn asked looking to the others,

"We move on." Shane sighed, "I'll take charge, I knew Rick best."

"Right." Daryl securing his bow on his back, "Good luck with that."

"You're leaving?" Lori finally asked,

"A'Course, I see no reason t' stick around with ya'll." Daryl sneered as he revved his motorcycle, he narrowed his eyes at Lori, "Once that baby a yours comes into the world it'll be kicking and screaming, that thing's gonna get us all killed."

"Right, and going off on your own is any better?" Glenn challenged, "I think it'd be better if we all stick together."

"We need you Daryl," Shane began, placing a hand on his shoulder,

"Get yer hands off me!" Daryl snapped violently, "Ya only _NEED _me because I know how to provide fer myself! Ya'll won't last one damn DAY without me busting my ass for you guys! Well you know what," Daryl growled, glaring Shane down, "I see no reason to break my back for a bunch a pansies I don't even KNOW let alone LIKE. I'm outta here."

"So you'd be willing to let some unborn child die?" Shane growled, "What about Carl?"

"Don't try and play that shit on me." Daryl hissed, getting in Shane's face, "They ain't my kids, and maybe you should a thought about that before ya knocked up Queen Bee over there."

"I can't let you go."

"What ya gonna do?" Daryl challenged savagely, "Cuff me t' something?"

"I might."

"I'd like to see you try."

"Guys, stop!" Glenn finally interjected, pushing the two away from one another; this earned him a slug to the face by Daryl, the young man stumbling back only for Maggie to catch him, Shane instantly pulling Daryl from his motorcycle, throwing him to the ground.

"Daryl!" Lori shouted as she went to help Maggie,

"What's your problem!?" Maggie shouted, glaring at Daryl,

"I'm tired of him sticking his damn nose where it don't belong!" Daryl whirled his attention on Shane who was glaring down at him, "In fact, I'm sick of all ya'll sticking your damn noses where it don't belong! If any of ya'll try t' stop me from leaving, you best pray God have mercy on your soul."

"Daryl," Glenn called out, "You're a part of our group more or less, we're just worried for you . . . you pulling away from us isn't what Carol OR Rick would have wanted."

"Shut your damn mouth, you don't have any RIGHT talking about what they would or wouldn't have wanted." straddling his motorcycle, Daryl started his machine once again, glaring everyone down, "I'm outta here."

The group of adults watched as the man began making his way past their vehicles only to stop once again due to a roadblock of the human variety, Carl.

"Outta the way kid."

"Take me with you."

"Wha . . . ?"

"Carl," Lori tried, "Don't."

"Listen to your mother, Carl." Shane added,

"You're NOT my dad." Carl hissed, glaring at the two causing them to reel, he turned his attention back towards Daryl, "I don't wanna stay here. You're right. We're not going to survive . . . not with my dad dead. If I go with you, you can teach me how to hunt, how to survive."

"Kid, I don't think that's a good idea." Daryl groused, feeling awkward, "Just stay here with the group, you'll only get in my way."

"I won't get in the way, I promise! You can teach me everything!" Carl begged, eyes resembling his father's staring up at Daryl causing the latter to feel himself caving in to the boy's logic, "And if you don't . . . I'll just run away from the group."

"Kid . . . ," Daryl sighed, "You're really bustin' my balls here."

"Please?"

"Fuck." Daryl shut off his motorcycle, he looked back to the group unaware of Carl's look of disappointment, "I'll stay."

"Let's get going then." Shane began, making his way towards the car.

"C'mon Carl." Lori called,

"I wanna ride with Daryl." Carl stepped towards said man, eyes determined,

"Carl." Lori sighed, she looked to Daryl hoping he'd help out, "Daryl?"

Stressing his lower lip, Daryl looked from the woman to the boy who was looking up at him with those damn blue eyes of his that resembled his father's, the man who saw some worth in him . . . again, he felt himself caving. Mentally cursing himself, he shifted in his seat, allowing a little more room for the back.

"Get on."

Beaming, Carl clambered awkwardly on the vehicle as Lori let out an exhausted and slightly disappointed sigh before making her way towards the head vehicle where Shane was waiting . . . he couldn't believe he was going soft.

Meanwhile back at the smoking remains of the barn, there lie an ashen body in the trampled fields. A man with wavy brown hair and peppered beard, wearing a blood soaked shirt. Multiple footsteps could be heard approaching the body:

"Yo Boss!" a deep baritone voice called out, "Look at what we have here!"

"This better be good." another voice growled, female, "Oh? What do we have here?"

"He's still breathing." another male voice stated, "I don't see any bite marks."

"What do we do?"

"Take him. We'll give him a look over once we get back to the camp."

* * *

><p>Ohoho! Aren't I clever!?<p>

The IDK line breaks are the initials of my story which in this case is IDK, which is something I didn't notice until later . . . so no, I'm am woefully dull. Also the title is from a lyric in a song. Can you guess which one? Yes? No?

One last thing: without Rick there, Daryl is actually ABLE to get into a fist fight, just wanted to point that out. Rick IS the Daryl wrangler in the series.


	2. Chapter 2

I honestly forgot about this until I got an email saying someone had added **"If Destiny's Kind" **to their favorites or something like that, I don't know, I wasn't really paying attention.

I do not own The Walking Dead.

**If Destiny's Kind 2**

_Wandering the eternal plane of whatever image his subconscious was conjuring up, Shane found himself stumbling upon an all too familiar site. Everything was JUST as it had been when he and Rick had faced one another, except the landscape was in grayscale, and the other inhabitant of the wretched memory seemed to be . . . ,_

"_I never thought you'd do it, y'know."_

_There he is. Glancing carelessly over his shoulder, Shane spotted Rick standing in the same spot he'd last stood, he was in grayscale as well, except his eyes were glowing a hauntingly bright blue color and he had a dark splotch where he'd been shot._

"_I really thought we would've been able to work SOMETHING out," the apparition stated idly, in that same way Rick had used when he was trying to be reasonable, "Come to an agreement."_

"_You know that wouldn't have worked, and even if it did, things wouldn't have been the same."_

"_You're probably right, but it wouldn't have hurt to try."_

_Glaring at the ground, Shane decided to just ignore Rick . . . no, the apparition . . . until it decided to leave or whatever it was that his brain had in store for him. But soon enough, the silence was beginning to grate on his patience causing him to throw another careless glance over his shoulder only to see the apparition still standing in the same place, staring at him._

"_What?"_

"_You were always so defensive." Rick, APPARITION, stated fondly before the smile slipped from his face only to be replaced by a troubled expression, "But was killing me REALLY necessary?"_

"_We both couldn't love the same woman."_

"_It wasn't love."_

"_How do YOU know what I feel!?" Shane snarled, turning on the apparition with such speed he gave himself momentary whiplash, "How can you stand there and tell me it isn't love when you never gave her OR Carl the time of day!"_

"_I was trying to keep everyone safe."_

"_Things ain't the SAME as they USED to be! If you had only gotten that through your thick skull we wouldn't have even BEEN in this fucking situation! If only you would have looked after Lori and Carl instead of trying to play the hero!"_

"_I know things aren't the same, but YOU should know that even though things were different, I couldn't turn my back on those who needed help."_

"_Right," Shane snorted, "Like when you foolishly charged into Atlanta just to find Merle fucking Dixon all because his little brother was acting like some damn baby over it."_

"_Exactly like that. It was my fault he was up there in the first place."_

"_No . . . just shut up. Okay? Shut up. I always HATED it when you pulled stupid shit like that."_

"_Like what?"_

"_Trying to fix something that wasn't even YOUR fault to begin with! You ALWAYS had to fix everyone else's problems! You always had to be the knight-in-shining-armor even when it wasn't wanted OR needed! Like the whole situation with Sophia!" Shane bellowed, "If you had only just let things LIE then Carol wouldn't have been so broken up about it!"_

"_But then she would have never had closure."_

"_I don't . . . what about Daryl!? He nearly DIED for a stupid DOLL!"_

"_It also brought him closer to the rest of us. It let him know that we appreciated his help."_

"_No." Shane spat, "He only cozied up to YOU. Following after you like some lovesick dog waiting for his master's approval. I bet the sick bastard got off on the compliments you gave him. Prob'ly why he moved so far away from the rest of us, so he can jerk off in his tent, the damn queer!"_

"_Shane . . . ,"_

"_As for his help?" Shane steamed on, "YOU appreciated his help! I didn't want it OR need it!"_

"_Yes, I will admit to appreciating his help because I was the only one looking, but I wasn't the only one who accepted it, Carol also appreciated his help. It allowed the two of them to become friends."_

"_GOD! I JUST . . . !" Shane wished he'd had hair to rip out, "SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP AND GO!"_

_Things began blurring and swirling together before becoming consumed in darkness, this wasn't the first time he'd seen the asshole masquerading as his best friend and it most certainly wouldn't be the last . . . _waking with a jolt. Shane found the others were already up and moving. Sighing, the man sat himself up; scrubbing his hands over his face in hopes it would rid him of his thoughts but it would only do so much for movement captured his attention, facing the source, Shane spotted Daryl exiting the woods with a couple of squirrels slung over his shoulder, the memories of his _nightmare _came rushing back.

He was just trying to be an ass to R-, the apparition, and Daryl had become his antagonist as of late which is why he'd vented about the man at all, but could there really be truth there?

"Couldn't you find more?" Lori asked,

"If you think you can do better why don'chu go hunt for yourself." Daryl sneered as he set his crossbow down, "See how much game YOU can get with winter comin' in as fast as it is."

"Daryl," Glenn sighed, "It's too early."

"Then mind your own damn business."

Realizing he'd have to step in before Daryl decided to cause yet ANOTHER fight, Shane slowly rose to his feet, stretching out and enjoying the way his muscles ached. This of course, captured the group's attention:

"Good morning, Shane." Lori was the first to greet cordially, "Sleep well?"

"As good as a guy can when he's sleeping on the ground."

"Think I slept any better?" Lori teased good-naturedly, "Daryl caught some food."

"I . . . I can see that."

"Daryl~!" Carl beamed as he sat beside the hunter, "Can you show me how to skin a squirrel~?"

"Maybe some other time when I ain't freezin' my ass off."

Carl took on a downtrodden look but was mostly ignored by the man, Shane stood beside Lori who had been watching the exchange in an almost disapproving manner which would without a doubt, send Daryl into another hissy fit, and Glenn was right, it WAS too early for his bullshit.

"We're gonna have to find a place to weather out the winter." Shane spoke, capturing the mother's attention, "Can't be wandering around out in the open. Maybe scavenge some clothes."

"Sounds as good as any other plan."

Memories of his nightmare came rushing back causing him to falter, soon enough, he mentally berated himself. What's done is done, he can't go back and change that no matter how fast the guilt was starting to creep up on him.

"Would Rick do the same?"

"What?"

"Nothing." Shane sighed tiredly, suddenly very exhausted, "Let's just . . . go."

"What about food?"

"We can eat when we find a safe place to stay the night." Shane began walking away, not really caring if the others followed him or not, "You can have my portions."

"Um . . . okay?" Lori frowned,

"We're already leaving?" Glenn was the first to ask,

"We JUST woke up." Maggie added, "Couldn't we take a few to fully wake up?"

"I'm sure Shane's got a reason for leaving so early."

"An' what am I supposed t'do with these!?" Daryl huffed, gesturing to the squirrels, "'less any of ya'll got a cooler stashed somewhere these won' make it 'til Shane stops PMS'ing."

"PMS'ing?" Carl mimed, a hint of confusion and amusement in his tone.

**I-D-K**

Driving while distracted wasn't the best idea, but Shane couldn't think of anything better to do with his current predicament . . . that dream had really set him on edge and it was obvious the others knew he was unsettled, but that really didn't stop them from being, well, them. Currently, the group was heading through the country with green, green grass and the likes . . . maybe God, or whoever was in charge, was punishing him for betraying his best friend.

"Shane?"

Glancing briefly at his passenger, Shane saw the look of concern etched upon Lori's features:

"What?"

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. Just tired."

"Don't lie to me." Lori groused, "I've been with Rick long enough to know when a man's lying."

"Not all men are like Rick."

"My point still stands."

"So does mine."

He knew that would open up a nasty can of worms, but he found he could care less.

Just WHAT had that dream done to him?

"You're just like him." Lori huffed, "You're both stubborn and won't talk when it's obvious something is bothering you."

"We're nothing alike."

"Could have fooled me."

"Lori." Shane nearly snapped, body tense, "Please, drop it. I'm fine."

There was nothing like a woman's ire for he felt her glaring daggers at him, but she had dropped it which was a consolation prize of sorts which meant he wouldn't be poked and prodded for the answers he didn't want to give. How could one say they were dreaming of their ex-best friend who they just so happened to murder in cold blood just for some woman that wasn't even theirs to begin with?

_Wandering the eternal plane of whatever image his subconscious was conjuring up, Shane found himself stumbling upon an all too familiar site. Everything was JUST as it had been when he and Rick had faced one another, except the landscape was in grayscale, and the other inhabitant of the wretched memory seemed to be . . . ,_

"_I never thought you'd do it, y'know."_

_There he is. Glancing carelessly over his shoulder, Shane spotted Rick standing in the same spot he'd last stood, he was in grayscale as well, except his eyes were glowing a hauntingly bright blue color and he had a dark splotch where he'd been shot._

"_I really thought we would've been able to work SOMETHING out," the apparition stated idly, in that same way Rick had used when he was trying to be reasonable, "Come to an agreement."_

_That had been his cue to speak, repeat what he'd said the other night when they'd appeared before one another, but he knew what game this apparition was playing and he knew it well for he had played it many times over. Manipulation. He wasn't going to give it the satisfaction it was seeking, and if that meant wallowing in guilt, then so be it, but he wasn't going to be another's plaything . . . he was truly going mad._

"_Why won't you talk to me?"_

"_Because you're not real."_

Because I can't.

I won't.

"_Yet here I am." the figure prodded, "I've noticed that you haven't really called me by my name. Why is that?"_

"_Because you're not Rick."_

He died a long time ago.

I killed him.

"_I don't understand."_

_Shane remained silent._

"_Shane?" a hand touched his shoulder, "What's wrong?" Shane frowned, "You know you can tell me. We're friends. Brothers."_

_That was it. Shoving the imposter backwards, Shane whirled on the apparition, hands instantly wrapping around the other's throat, clenching hard enough to break one's neck, eyes wild._

"_You have no RIGHT calling me your brother! We're not friends! We're not brothers! You're not REAL! You're NOTHING to me!" Shane bellowed, voice breaking, "The Rick __**I **__knew wouldn't try and MANIPULATE someone! The Rick __**I **__knew . . . ! The Rick I knew died. A long time ago. I . . . ,"_

"_I understand."_

_That was it. Shane knew this was Rick, the Rick HE knew. Always level-headed even when they were fighting, when Shane pushed him. This was the Rick Lori both loved AND hated, for no matter how much she yelled and fought with him, he always tried to be rational._

_This was HIS Rick._

_The one he betrayed._

_And for what . . . ?_

_Carl was pushing his mother away and closing in on himself. Daryl was reverting back to his old ways, but this time, there was a more feral, rabid, side, it was only a matter of time before he left. Glenn was trying to help, but he was often shot down rather violently by Daryl (Carl had even joined in that one time much to his mother's horror), and worrying about Maggie. Lori was now five months along and food was scarce, so others had to relinquish their portions to the woman. And Maggie, Maggie was still mourning for the family she had lost that fateful day, and even though she was slowly coming out of that slump, she was coming back hollow._

_Slowly, Shane's hands slipped from Rick's throat to his shoulders then his back where he pulled the other man into an all too familiar hug. Burying his face into his best friend's shoulder._

"_I'm sorry . . . ," Shane whispered hoarsely, hands clutching at the fabric of Rick's shirt, he could feel the other wrap his arms around him in a comforting embrace, "I'm so sorry . . . ,"_

"_It's okay." Rick assured, gently patting his friend's back, "I understand."_

_Just . . . feeling, hearing, his best friend truly for the first time since his death, brought Shane to the edge, and for the first time, he allowed himself to cry . . . _stressing her lower lip, Lori wasn't entirely sure if she should wake Shane or not, even as the tears became more prominent.

"Oh Shane," Lori murmured sadly.

* * *

><p>I wanted to focus on Shane for a bit and listened to Hurt by Johnny Cash while writing this so that might be able to help you understand the mood of this chapter.<p>

Also yes guest, you are right, the title is from Reasons Unknown by Coldplay.


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